Cloning and expression of phosopholipase C genes

ABSTRACT

Improved means for producing Clostridium Phospholipase C (PL) polypeptides based on the cloning and expression of recombinant DNA segments containing Clostridium PLC genes and fragments. The DNA segments are operably linked to host specific expression control sequences for exogenous production of Clostridium PLC, or fragments thereof, substantially free from naturally-associated Clostridium gene products.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to the application of recombinant DNA technology to understand and treat medical diseases and, more particularly, to the cloning, expression and modification of DNA sequences encoding bacterial proteins or fragments thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The anaerobic spore-forming bacilli of the genus Clostridium represent a major class of human pathogens, causing, inter alia, botulism, tetanus and gas gangrene. For the most part, the pathogenicity depends largely on the release of extremely toxic exotoxins or highly destructive enzymes.

One of the most lethal and necrotizing toxins produced by many of the Clostridium species associated with invasive infection in humans is a calcium-dependent enzyme lecithinase, known as Phospholipase C (EC3.1.4.3). This enzyme catalyzes the breakdown of lecithin (choline phosphoglyceride) in cell membranes to diglyceride and phosphorylcholine, as well as the hydrolysis of cephalin and sphingolmyelin. Primarily through its action on lecithin, which is present in membranes of many cells, the toxin can cause extensive damage in a variety of animal tissues. (See, generally, Mollby, R., "Bacterial Phospholipases," in Bacterial Toxins and Cell Membranes, Eds. Jeljaszewicz and Wadstrom (1977), which is incorporated herein by reference.)

Although much research has been conducted on the various activities of purified Clostridium Phospholipase C (see, e.g., Yamakama and Ohsaka, J. Biochem 81:115-126 (1977), which is incorporated herein by reference, little is known about its structure (e.g., amino acid sequence). This is in part due to the risks associated with the production of large quantities of substantially pure Phospholipase C, which can necessitate growing large volumes of typically toxic Clostridium bacteria. Commonly used processes for purification do not, of course, guarantee removal of other Clostridium toxins. Also, most assays for Phospholipase C are time consuming and difficult to perform with high degrees of accuracy and reproducibility.

In general, the species diagnosis of most Clostridium infections is complicated by the fact that many such infections contain more than one type of bacteria. This diagnosis could rely on the detection of particular species variants of Phospholipase C. In this regard, isolating genes encoding Clostridium Phospholipase C is desirable, particularly in view of the cloning and expression of Phospholipase genes from other virulent bacteria species (e.g., P. aeruginosa, Pritchard and Coleman, J. Bacterial. 167:291-298 (1986) and S. aureus, Coleman et al., Microb. Path. 1:549-564 (1986), both of which are incorporated herein by reference.)

Thus, there exists a need for the safe and economic production of substantial quantities of Clostridium Phospholipase C, as well as new and improved assays for the toxin. Ideally, the material will be substantially free of other, naturally-occurring Clostridium proteins The present invention fulfills these needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides cloned recombinant DNA sequences coding for Clostridium Phospholipase C polypeptides, which sequences when operably linked to an expression control sequence and expressed in a host produce Clostridium Phospholipase C, or fragments thereof, substantially free from naturally-associated Clostridium gene products. Novel polypeptides having a portion of the primary structure of Clostridium Phospholipase C and/or one or more of the biological properties of the toxin can be readily produced by modifying the DNA sequences encoding the naturally occurring genes. The genes also may be used as probes for isolating related genes and identifying the presence of Clostridium in samples from human patients. Further, the gene expression products can be used in various other diagnostic and therapeutic applications, including the production of specifically reactive immunoglobulins.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 depicts the nucleotide sequence and putative corresponding amino acid sequence of a DNA segment encoding Clostridium perfringens Phospholipase C. The arrow after amino acid 22 indicates a possible processing site of the signal peptide.

FIG. 2 depicts the nucleotide sequence and putative corresponding amino acid sequence of a DNA segment encoding Clostridium bifermentans Phospholipase C. The arrow after amino acid 23 indicates a possible processing site of the signal peptide.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, DNA sequences encoding polypeptide sequences of Clostridium Phospholipase C (PLC) enzymes are provided. When placed in expression vectors and suitable eukaryotic and prokaryotic hosts, large quantities of polypeptides displaying one or more of the various biological properties of naturally-occurring Clostridium PLC can be produced. These polypeptides are useful in the diagnosis and treatment of Clostridium infections.

In one aspect, the present invention contemplates isolating recombinant DNA segments encoding Clostridium PLC polypeptides, the DNA segment comprising a DNA sequence selected from group consisting of: (a) the DNA sequence of Clostridium perfringens PLC as shown in FIG. 1 and the DNA sequence of Clostridium bifermentans shown in FIG. 2, or their complementary strands; (b) DNA sequences, or their complementary strands, which on expression code for the polypeptide sequences shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 due, e.g., due to codon degeneracy; and

DNA sequences (e.g., from other Clostridium species) which hybridize, typically under stringent conditions, to the DNA sequences of (a) or (b) above and which produce a polypeptide exhibiting at least one biological activity of PLC. The hybridizing sequences, including those encoding native or mutated gene sequences, will usually be at least about 50 to 60% homologous, preferably 85 to 90% homologous or more, to similarly-sized portions of the gene sequences in the Figures.

The DNA segment will typically further include an expression control DNA sequence operably linked to the PLC coding sequences, including naturally-associated promoter regions. Preferably, the expression control sequences will be prokaryotic promoter systems in vectors capable of transforming or transfecting prokaryotic host cells. Once the vector has been incorporated into the appropriate host, the host is maintained under conditions suitable for high level expression of the nucleotide sequences, and, as desired, the collection and purification of the Clostridium PLC polypeptides may follow.

Two putative amino acid sequences based on isolated and purified nucleotide sequences of genes coding for polypeptides of the present invention are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The initial 22 amino acids in FIG. 1 and 23 amino acids in FIG. 2 are rich in hydrophobic amino acids, as would be expected for a leader or signal sequence of a secreted mature protein.

It is well known that native forms of this "mature" Clostridium PLC will vary among Clostridium species in terms of length by deletions, substitutions, insertions or additions of one or more amino acids in the sequences. Common species of Clostridia from which various pertinent DNA sequences can be obtained include C. perfringens, C. bifermentans, C. tertium, and C. sporogenes, C. novyi, C. septicum, and C. histolyticum. Samples of these species can be obtained from a variety of sources, such as the American Tissue culture Collection, ("Catalogue of Bacteria, Phages and rDNA vectors," Sixteenth edition (1985) Rockville, Maryland, U.S.A., which is incorporated herein by reference).

In addition to these naturally-occurring forms of Clostridium PLC, other Clostridium PLC peptides can be readily designed and manufactured utilizing various recombinant DNA techniques well known to those skilled in the art. For example, polypeptides can vary at the primary structure level by amino acid substitutions, terminal and intermediate additions and deletions, and the like. Alternatively, polypeptide fragments comprising only a portion of the primary structure may be produced, which fragments possess one or more Clostridium PLC activities (e.g., enzyme activity), while exhibiting lower immunogenicity). In particular, it is noted that like many genes, the Clostridium PLC genes may contain separate functional regions, each having one or more distinct biological activities. These may be fused to functional regions (e.g., specific binding regions) from other genes (e.g., immunoglobulins, see, EPO No. 84302368.0, which is incorporated herein by reference) to produce fusion proteins (e.g., immunotoxins) having novel properties. In general, modifications of the genes may be readily accomplished by a variety of well-known techniques, such as site-directed mutagenesis (see, Gillman and Smith, Gene 8:81-97 (1979), which is incorporated herein by reference) which can be employed to generate various analogs and derivatives of naturally-occurring, mature Clostridium PLC.

The activities of Clostridium PLC polypeptides of the present invention can be assayed by a number of well-known techniques. A preferred assay procedure was developed by Krug and Kent (Methods Enzymol. 72:347-351 (1981) Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 231:400-410 (1984), which are incorporated herein by reference). Also, PLC activity can be determined by the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenylphosphorylcholine (Berka et al, J. Bacteriol. 152:239-245 (1982), which is incorporated herein by reference).

In another assay, egg yolk is utilized in agar medium, and active enzyme activity is indicated by the discoloration of the agar medium. Recently, other more sophisticated methods have been developed, see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,579, which is incorporated herein by reference, and can be utilized to assay the activities of the polypeptides of present invention.

As stated previously, the DNA sequences encoding the polypeptides of the present invention will be expressed in hosts after the sequences have been operably linked to (i.e., positioned to ensure the functioning of) an expression control sequence. These expression vectors are typically replicable in the host organisms either as episomes or as an integral part of the host chromosomal DNA. Commonly, expression vectors will contain selection markers, e.g., tetracycline or neomycin, to permit detection of those cells transformed with the PLC DNA sequences (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,362, which is incorporated herein by reference).

E. coli is the preferred prokaryotic host for cloning and expressing the DNA sequence of the present invention. Other microbial hosts suitable for use include bacilli, such as Bacillus subtilus, and other enterobacteriaceae, such as Salmonella, Serratia, and various Pseudomonas species. In these prokaryotic hosts, the expression vectors will typically contain expression control sequences compatible with the host cell (e.g., an origin of replication). In addition, any number of a variety of well-known promoters will be present, such as the lactose promoter system, a tryptophan (trp) promoter system, a beta-lactamase promoter system, or a promoter system from phage lambda. The promoters will typically control expression, optionally with an operator sequence, and have ribosome binding site sequences and the like, for initiating and completing transcription and translation.

Other microbes, such as yeast may also be used for expression. Saccharomyces is a preferred host, with suitable vectors having expression control sequences, such as promoters, including 3-phosphoglycerate kinase or other glycolytic enzymes, and an origin of replication, termination sequences and the like as desired.

In addition to microorganisms, mammalian tissue cell culture may also be used to produce the polypeptides of the present invention (see, Winnacker, "From Genes to Clones," VCH Publishers, N.Y., N.Y. (1987), which is incorporated herein by reference). A number of suitable host cell lines have been developed, and include the CHO cell lines, the various COS cell lines, HeLa cells, myeloma cell lines, etc. Expression vectors for these cells can include expression control sequences, such as an origin of replication, a promoter, and necessary processing information sites, such as ribosome binding sites, RNA splice sites, polyadenalation sites, and transcriptional terminator sequences. Preferred expression control sequences are promoters derived from SV40, from Adenovirus, Bovine Papilloma Virus, and the like.

The vectors containing the DNA segments of interest (e.g., the PLC encoding sequences and expression control sequences) can be transferred into the host cell by well-known methods, which vary depending on the type of cellular host. For example, calcium chloride transfection is commonly utilized for prokaryotic cells, whereas calcium phosphate treatment may be used for other cellular hosts. (See, generally, Maniatis et al. Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Press, (1982), which is incorporated herein by reference.)

Once expressed, the polypeptides of the present invention can be purified according to standard procedures of the art, including ammonium sulfate precipitation, fraction column chromatography, gel electrophoresis and the like. Once purified, partially or to homogeneity as desired, the polypeptides may then be used in developing and performing assay procedures, such as an antigenic substance for eliciting specific immunoglobulins useful in immunoassays, immunofluorescent stainings, and the like. Either polyclonal antiserum or a more specific monoclonal antibody composition reactive with any of the various epitopes on the polypeptides may be produced in accordance with well-known procedures. (See, generally, Immunological Methods, Vols. I and II, Eds. Lefkovits and Pernis, Academic Press, New York, N.Y. (1979 and 1981).)

The naturally-occurring PLC Clostridium genes from various Clostridium species may be identified and isolated utilizing well-known hybridization technology. In view of differing homology among the various PLC genes, the stringency of hybridization conditions must be adjusted from species to species. Filter hybridization is preferred, the hybridization buffer and procedures of which are generally described in Nucleic Acid Hybridization: A Practical Approach, Eds. Hames and Haggins, IRL Press, Washington, D.C. (1985), which is incorporated herein by reference.

Hybridization conditions sufficiently stringent to prevent hybridization to irrelevant nucleic acid sequences are used either during the hybridization or any of the wash steps. The precise degree of stringency can be controlled by temperature, probe concentration, probe length, ionic strength, time, and the like. Most conveniently, stringency is varied through manipulation of a polar organic solvent, such as formamide, or by varying temperatures. Typically, formamide will be present at a concentration ranging from about 20% to 50%, typically the higher percentages. Temperatures will typically be in the range of about 37° C. to 75° C., preferably about 42° C. to 45° C. Incubation times can vary from a few hours, to 24 to 36 hours or more, as desired.

A common suitable hybridization solution employs about 50% formamide, with 0.5 to 1 M sodium chloride, about 0.05 to 0.1 M buffers, such as sodium citrate, Tris, HEPES or PIPES, about 0.05 to 0.2% detergent and a protein source such as serum albumin. Other additives, such as carrier nucleic acids, volume exclusion agents, and the like may be included as desired.

For nucleic acid based diagnostic purposes, in situ hybridizations are preferred (see, Singer et al., Biotechniques 4:230-250 (1986) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,535, both of which are incorporated herein by reference). Synthetically produced nucleic acid probes ranging from about 10 to 50, preferably 100 to 200 nucleotides or more, are utilized to detect the presence of desired nucleic acid sequences. Typically, these probes are radioactively labeled, either by nick translation when produced from larger nucleic acid sequences, or by a variety of other means well known in the art. The samples may be obtained from any of a variety of human fluids, such as urine, saliva, or blood suspected of harboring the infectious organism or its nucleic acids.

The following examples are offered by way of illustration, not by limitation.

EXPERIMENTAL Example 1 CLONING OF C. PERFRINGENS

C. perfringens (ATCC 13124) bacterial cells were collected by centrifugation, resuspended in 25 mM Tris, pH 8.0, 10 mM EDTA, 50 mM glucose, 4 mg/ml lysozyme and incubated 10 min at 23° C. SDS was added to a final concentration of 0.2%, and proteinase K to a final concentration of 100 μg/ml, and the sample incubated at 37° C. for 4 hr. The sample was extracted with an equal volume of phenol 2 times, and then 2 volumes of ethanol were added to the aqueous phase without mixing. The DNA was spooled from this solution with a glass rod, incubated with 2 mg/ ml RNAse and extracted with phenol. It was then precipitated with ethanol, dried, and resuspended in TE buffer (10 mM Tris, pH 7.4, 1 nM EDTA). The chromosomal DNA was digested with either HindIII or EcoRI and cloned into the respective sites in the plasmid pEMBL8+ (Dente, et al, (1983), Nucl. Acids Res. 11, 1645-1655, which is incorporated herein by reference) as follows. About 5 μg purified Clostridium DNA was digested with HindIII. The sample was extracted with phenol, precipitated with ethanol, and resuspended in TE. About 2 μg pEMBL8+ DNA was digested with HindIII, then diluted 1:5 in TE buffer and 2.5 units calf intestinal phosphatase added and incubated for a further hr at 65° C. The sample was extracted with phenol, precipitated with ethanol and resuspended in TE. The HindIII-digested Clostridium and pEMBL8+ DNAs were then ligated together, using T4 DAN ligase (New England Biolabs), and the ligated DNA transformed into E. coli according to standard methods (Maniatis et al., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor NY, 1982, pp. 250-251). The same process was performed with EcoRl.

The HindIII and EcoRI generated plasmids were then used to transform E. coli host DHI (Hanahan (1983), J. Mol. Biol. 166, 557-580) and transformants were plated on LB agar plates containing 50 μg/ml ampicillin and 1% (V/V) sheep red blood cells. After screening 2,000 transformants from each library, a total of five colonies that created zones of hemolysis were isolated.

All five isolates exhibit phospholipase C activity in their periplasmic space as assayed by the method of Krug and Kent (supra). Restriction analysis of the two kinds of plasmid (HindIII and EcoRI generated recombinants) in these colonies indicated they shared a common 2.0 kilobase (kb) EcoRl-HindIII fragment in their inserts. This 2.0 kb EcoRl-HindIII fragment was then subcloned between the EcoRI and HindIII site of pEMBL8+ for detailed restriction and DNA sequence analysis. E. coli transformants harboring the resulting plasmid, p8PLC, are hemolytic and exhibit phospholipase C activity in the periplasmic space, confirming that the gene is intact in this 2.0 kb fragment. Furthermore, a predominant protein with molecular weight of 43,000 KD is present in the osmotic shock fluid (Nossal and Heppel (1966) J. Biol. Chem. 241, 3055-2062) from the periplasmic space of DHl/p8PLC. This protein is absent from the shock fluid of the host cell.

Table I shows the PLC enzymatic activity obtained from PLC polypeptides (non-glycosylated) of the present invention in comparison to naturally-occurring Clostridium PLC. The recombinantly produced polypeptides were obtained from the periplasmic space of the transformed organisms by osmotic shock. A cell pellet was obtained from about 250 ml of the cultures, and the cells washed in 50 mM Tris-HCl, ph7.8, and centrifuged. The pellet was resuspended in 20 ml of the wash buffer containing 40% sucrose, to which was added EDTA to 2 mM. After 10 minutes, the solution was centrifuged and the cell pellets resuspended in 10 ml of cold H₂ O, which was left standing on ice for about 10 minutes. This solution was centrifuged and the supernatant contained the shock fluid.

The assay, a PLC-alkaline phosphatase coupled assay, was performed as follows.

Reagents

    ______________________________________                                         Tris-HC1,          0.4 M, pH 7.3 at 37°                                 Calcium chloride,  50 mM                                                       Bovine serum albumin,                                                                             1 mg/ml                                                     Phosphatidylcholine,                                                                              10 mM in absolute ethanol                                   Ammonium sulfate,  0.2 M                                                       Alkaline phosphatase (E. coli,                                                                    100 u/0.3 ml of                                             Sigma Chemical Co., type III-S),                                                                  2.5 M (NH.sub.4).sub.2 SO.sub.4                                                suspension                                                  Sodium dodecyl sulfate,                                                                           20%                                                         Ascorbate-molybdate reagent:                                                                      1 part 10% ascorbic acid                                                       and 6 parts 0.42% ammonium                                                     molybdate in 1 N H.sub.2 SO.sub.4                           ______________________________________                                    

Procedures

Reagents are added in the following order and to the final concentrations indicated (final volume =40 μl): 50 mM Tris-HCl, 6.3 mM calcium chloride, 0.13 mg/ml bovine serum albumin. 2.5 mM phosphatidylcholine, 70 mM ammonium sulfate (including the amount of ammonium sulfate contributed by the suspension of alkaline phosphatase), 0.15 unit of alkaline phosphatase, and 0.1 to 1×10⁻³ unit of phospholipase C. Routinely, all the assay components except phospholipase C may be combined as one large suspension, and aliquots can be removed for each assay. The assay mixture is incubated at 37° for 15 min in a shaking water bath. The reaction is terminated by addition of 40 μl of sodium dodecyl sulfate, then 200 μl of ascorbic-molybdate reagent is added, followed by incubation at 45° for 20 min or 37° for 60 min. The absorbance is determined at 820 nm. One nanomole of inorganic phosphate corresponds to a net absorbance of about 0.045 above a reaction mixture blank absorbance of 0.040. One unit of phospholipase C activity is defined as that which produces 1 μmol of inorganic phosphate per minute.

                  TABLE I                                                          ______________________________________                                         Assay for Phospholipase C (PLC)                                                         PLC assay  Protein    Specific                                                 A.sub.820 reading                                                                         concentra- activity                                                 (vol/dilution)                                                                            tion (mg/ml)                                                                              (units/mg)                                      ______________________________________                                         Osmotic shock                                                                             .542 (20 μl/1:100)                                                                       0.56       107                                         fluid from E. coli                                                             transfected with                                                               p8PLC                                                                          Purified PLC                                                                              .520 (20 μl/1:100)                                                                       0.76        79                                         from E. coli                                                                   transfected with                                                               p8PLC                                                                          Purified PLC                                                                              .440 (20 μl/1:100)                                                                       0.29       184                                         from Clostridium                                                               perfringens                                                                    ______________________________________                                    

Sequence analysis (Sanger et al, (1977) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 74, 5463-5467) of the 2.0 kb EcoRl-HindIII fragment revealed an open-reading frame of 1196 base pairs (bp) located in the HindIII half of the fragment (FIG. 1). The sequence codes for a 22 amino acid putative signal peptide and a 377 amino acid mature protein, the amino acid composition of which agrees well with that of prior reports (Krug and Kent, supra).

Example 2 CLONING OF PHOSPHOLIPASE C GENE FROM C BIFERMENTANS

C. bifermentans (ATCC 638) cells were prepared and DNA extracted as in Example 1. Then, the chromosomal DNA was digested with EcoRI and cloned into the EcoRl site of λgt10 arms (Stratagene, Inc.) and packaged (Huynh et al, (1984) DNA Cloning Techniques; A practical Approach, David Glover, ed. IRL Press, Oxford 50-70, which is incorporated herein by reference). The genomic library was plated on E. coli host C600 Hfl and screened by plaque hybridization (Benton and Davis (1977) Science 196, 180-182) using the previously cloned C. perfringens phospholipase C gene as a probe. Hybridization was performed at 5 x SSC/50% formamide/lX Denhardt/0.2% SDS/0.1 mg/ml calf thymus DNA at 30° C. overnight. After screening 2,000 plaques, a total of 20 plaques that hybridized to the probe were isolated. All of these plaques contain a 2.5 kb EcoRI insert that was later subcloned into pEMBL8+ to form plasmid pCBPLCl. Restriction and Southern analysis was performed by digesting with EcoRI and HindIII, running the fragments on agarose gel and transferring the dispersed fragments to nitrocellulose (Southern (1975) J. Mol. Biol. 98, 503-518). DNA on the nitrocellulose was hybridized to a radioactive probe prepared from the previously cloned C. perfringens gene by nick translation (Maniatis et al., supra at pgs. 387-389 and 109-112). Only the 0.83 kb HindIII - EcoRl fragment hybridized. This indicated that the sequence related to the C. perfringens phospholipase C gene is located only in that fragment at the end of the insert. DNA sequence analysis of this fragment confirmed that it indeed contains part of the phospholipase C coding sequence, but is truncated at the EcoRI site. So a second genomic library was created to isolate the missing coding sequence.

The second library was created by cloning HindIII-digested chromosomal DNA from C. bifermentans into the HindIII site of pUC19 (Norrander et al, (1983) Gene 26, 101-110, which is incorporated herein by reference). E. Coli transformants containing the recombinant plasmids were then screened by colony hybridization (Norrander, J., et al, supra) using the 0.83 kb HindIII - EcoRl fragment from pCBPLCI as a probe. From 2,000 transformants, seven colonies that hybridized to the probe were isolated. All plasmids in these colonies, of which a representative one is called pCBPLC2, contain a 5.2 kb HindIII fragment in their inserts. The 1.0 kb EcoRl fragment that is adjacent to the EcoRI insert of pCBP in the chromosome was subcloned from pCBPLC2 into pCBPLCl to reconstitute the entire phospholipase C gene. The resulting plasmid is called pCBPLC3. The entire coding sequence for phospholipase C in pCBPLC3 is shown in FIG. 2. The gene codes for a protein of 377 amino acid residues, with approximately 20 N-terminal residues corresponding to a signal peptide.

The C. Perfringens and C. Bifermentans phospholipase C proteins have an overall amino acid homology of 51%. The two genes have overall homology at the nucleotide level of 64%.

Example III

DNA of the plasmid p8PLC, containing the complete Clostridium perfringens PLC gene, was cut at the unique AccI site, which occurs at nucleotides 76-81 of the PLC sequence (FIG. 1). The ends were filled in using the Klenow fragment of polymerase 1. Xba linkers (New England Biolabs) were treated with polynucleotide kinase and then ligated to the cut plasmid DNA, using T4 DNA ligase. The ligated DNA was cut with XbaI, and then run on a 1% agarose gel. The linear plasmid DNA was purified from the agarose, ligated again, and transformed into E. coli.

A colony was picked, plasmid DNA purified (denoted p8PLC-Xba), and sequenced around the XbaI linker insert. The construction had the effect of deleting amino acid 26, Val, and inserting at the deletion four amino acids: Gly Ser Arg and Ala. The mutant protein was purified and assayed. There was no detectable difference in its activity relative to normal PLC.

Example IV

DNA of the plasmid p8PLC was cut with EcoRl, which cuts about 800 nucleotides upstream of the pLC gene. The cut plasmid was treated with the nuclease Ba131, which progressively removes nucleotides from the free DNA ends produced by the cut. The DNA was filled in with the Klenow fragment, ligated with XbaI linkers and cut with XbaI as well as HindIII, which cuts at the end of the PLC gene. The DNA was run on an agarose gel, and XbaI - HindIII fragments were isolated, of a size corresponding to removal of 0-100 nucleotides from the beginning of the PLC gene. These fragments were ligated with the large Xbal - HindIII fragment of p8PLC-Xba and transformed into E. coli. DNA was extracted from various colonies and sequenced around the XbaI site.

Two such mutants were selected for further study. In one mutant, RICHyb-3, the mutated PLC gene in p8PLC-Xba had been further changed by deletion of amino acids 27-30, Tyr Ala Trp Asp. In the other mutant RICHyb-9, amino acids 27-35, Tyr...Gly, had been deleted. The hemolytic activity of the mutant PLC proteins were respectively reduced approximately 10-fold and 50-fold relative to the normal PLC protein.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the DNA sequences of the present invention provide improved means for the safe and economic production of substantial quantities of Clostridium Phospholipase C. polypeptides. Importantly,, the Clostridium Phospholipase C products are produced substantially free from other, naturally-occurring Clostridium proteins. The invention also provides to those skilled in the art means for improved assay procedures for the detection of Clostridium species in samples, either through immunologic or DNA hybridization techniques.

Although the invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the scope of the appended claims. 

We claim:
 1. An isolated recombinant DNA segment encoding a Clostridium Phospholipase C polypeptide, said DNA segment comprising a first DNA sequence selected from the group consisting of:(a) the DNA sequences of FIGS. 1 and 2, or their complementary strands; (b) DNA sequences which on expression code for the polypeptide sequences of FIGS. 1 and 2, or the complementary strands of said DNA sequences; and (c) DNA sequences which hybridize under stringent conditions to sequences of (a) or (b).
 2. A DNA segment of claim 1, further comprising an expression control DNA sequence operably linked to said first DNA sequence.
 3. A DNA segment of claim 2, wherein the expression control sequence comprises a prokaryotic promoter system.
 4. A DNA segment of claim 2, wherein the expression control DNA sequence is selected from the group consisting of a lac promoter, a trp promoter, and a major operator and promoter region of phage lambda.
 5. A DNA segment of claim 1, further comprising a bacterial cloning vector.
 6. A DNA segment of claim 1, further comprising a signal sequence operably linked to said first DNA sequence.
 7. A prokaryotic or eukaryotic host cell transformed or transfected with a DNA segment according to claim 1, 2, or
 5. 8. A recombinant vector which, in a transformed or transfected host, will express a DNA segment coding for a Clostridium Phospholipase C polypeptide.
 9. A prokaryotic or eukaryotic host cell transformed or transfected with a recombinant vector according to claim
 8. 10. A process for producing a Clostridium Phospholipase C polypeptide comprising the steps of:(a) forming a vector comprising a nucleotide sequence coding for said polypeptide, said sequence operably linked to an expression control sequence; (b) transforming or transfecting a host cell with the vector; and (c) maintaining the host cell under conditions suitable for expression of the nucleotide sequence.
 11. A process according to claim 10, wherein the nucleotide sequence is the DNA sequence of FIG. 1 or FIG.
 2. 12. A process according to claim 10, wherein the host is a microorganism.
 13. A process according to claim 12, wherein the microorganism is E. coli.
 14. A process according to claim 10, further comprising purifying the expressed polypeptide.
 15. A process according to claim 10, wherein the expressed polypeptide is non-glycosylated.
 16. A process according to claim 10, wherein the polypeptide has a naturally associated leader sequence.
 17. A cloned gene coding for a Clostridium Phospholipase C, wherein said gene is substantially free from naturally associated Clostridium genes.
 18. A cloned gene according to claim 17, wherein the gene is isolated from Clostridium perfringens or Clostridium bifermentans. 